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The acquisition of Telerate has enabled Reuters to claim an increase in market share in provision of financial information for the first time in a decade.

Reuters has suffered heavily from the expansion of rivals such as Bloomberg and Thomson.

However, it acquired Telerate, a US financial information business, for $175m in December 2004.

Reuters said it increased its share of revenues in the £6bn market for financial information and services by by 1 percentage point to 27 per cent. This brings it level with Bloomberg.

In addition to the impact of the Telerate deal, Reuters said it had managed to win more business from its existing customers.

The shares rose 1¾p to 400¼p.

Tom Glocer, chief executive, said on Wednesday he was seeking further acquisitions. In particular he wants businesses that help traders manage risk or those which publish research on companies and markets for investors.

He said: “Risk management is an area where we see a very fragmented market and we expect consolidation as the market matures.”

Reuters also said it was in the final stages of talks with its pension fund trustees to cover more than half of its pension fund deficit.

At the end of 2005, the company had a gross deficit of £265m, according to IAS 19.

The group added that, overall, revenues for the three months to March 31 had risen 13 per cent to £633m, thanks again in part to Telerate. It also benefited from currency movements.

On an underlying basis, revenues rose 4 per cent, helped by new transaction systems and enterprise applications.

The group confirmed its forecast of full-year revenue growth of about 5 per cent, including a 1 percentage point turnover growth from Core Plus, the expansion programme that Reuters put in place last year.

“The trajectory from recovery to growth is on track,” said Mr Glocer.

FT Comment

■ It is rare to have a day when Reuters reports numbers and the shares hardly move. Wednesday’s figures revealed steady, if unexciting, progress on the revenue front. But competition remains fierce, especially in the electronic trading market, where ICAP is buying EBS, the foreign exchange trading platform. Mr Glocer says he believes Reuters will now be on a level playing field with EBS, which was owned by a consortium banks. With the shares trading at 17 times next year’s earnings, it looks like investors are still taking a lot on trust. For the more cautious, the shares look ripe for profit taking.